1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device and a method for processing situated information obtained by adding situation information, which includes user and peripheral conditions and expresses the situation where information resource is useful (effective), to the information resource. Technological fields wherein such situated information is utilized include those listed below and the like:    Ubiquitous computing <URL: http://www.ubicomp.org>Pervasive computing <URL:    http://www.nist.gov/pc2001/;    http://www.pervasive2002.org/>            HCI (Human Computer Interaction)        Context-Aware Computing        Internet contents distribution technology        Information acquisition support technology in Web systems        Mobile computing        Semantic web        
2. Description of the Related Art
Technologies such as (1) to (4) below are given as background art of the present invention.
(1) Web Information Search System
Attempts are being actively made to acquire useful information from web systems, not only by mere keyword searches, but also by implementing link structures and hierarchical structures existing within the web systems and information such as web browsing histories of users. Google (registered trademark) <URL: http://www.google.com> is popular because accurate and pertinent pages can be found by searches based on PageRank, which is drawn on the concept of “pages with links from many quality pages are, in turn, quality pages” (for example, refer to Non-patent Reference 1)
Non-Patent Reference 1
Special feature “Information acquisition support technology in Web systems”, The Japanese Society for Artificial Intelligence Journal, Vol. 16. No. 4, 2001/07, pp. 494-534.
According to searches such as this, the fact that the search itself implements keywords does not change, even though pages which have more pertinence can be found compared to searches held solely by simple keywords.
In addition, the majority of pages found on the Web are written in HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language), and while appropriate for humans to read, it is not suited for automatic processing by machines. Therefore, Semantic Web<URL:http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/>project, wherein metadata and meanings which can be understood by machines are added, is receiving attention. Through this web, it becomes easier for machines to comprehend information contents. However, this alone cannot enable the extraction of information suitable for a user situation, even if information adhering to the meanings is found.
Moreover, technology, such as Yahoo! (registered trademark), wherein information is categorized manually and users find necessary information by following category layers, exists. However, this categorization is based on content as well, and does not respond to situations and scenes where the necessity for the information arose.
(2) Information Personalization Technology
Several technologies which customize information catered to user preferences exist. For example, there is filtering technology which enables omission of unnecessary information or acquisition of only information desired by the user out of the multitude of transmitted information, and agent technology which complies with user requests and gathers information meeting these requests.
These technologies utilize information such as user preferences and statistical attributes, and cannot customize information based on situations which change with lifestyle and behavior. Even information suited to one's preferences has little to offer in the way of effectiveness if they cannot be viewed when necessary.
(3) Situation-Friendly Information Provision System
Several systems which provide information adhering to situations have been developed. For example, there are systems wherein maintenance information is projected on head mount displays during printer maintenance using mixed reality technology (for example, refer to Non-patent Reference 2), and information on books in a bookshelf is projected when the user is standing in front of the shelf (for example, refer to Non-patent Reference 3).
Non-Patent Reference 2
Steve Feiner, Blair Macintyre, and Doree Seligmann, “Knowledge-based augmented reality,” Communications of the ACM, Vol. 36, No. 7, pp. 52-62, 1993
Non-Patent Reference 3
Jun Rekimoto and Katashi Nagao, “The world through the computer: Computer augmented interaction with real world environments,” In Proceedings of the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST '95), pp. 29-36, 1995
These systems generally prepare databases, acknowledge ID for verifying positions and individuals, and present corresponding information. In addition, systems which, based on the actions made by the user, learn what should be presented during the next action are being devised (for example, refer to Non-patent Reference 4 and Patent Reference 5).
Non-Patent Reference 4
N. Marmasse and C. Schmandt, “Location-Aware Information Delkivery with ComMotion,” In Proceedings of International Symposium on Hand held and Ubiquitous Computing (HUC 2000)
Patent Reference 1
PCT International Application International Publication WO99/40524 Pamphlet, “ACTION PROPOSING DEVICE”
A large number of information provision systems which accommodate time and location, in particular, have been developed. For example, services called “reminders” which notify the user by e-mail and other ways before a specified time based on the user's schedule are well-known as information provision based on time (cf. Yahoo! (registered trademark) Calendar <URL: http://calendar.yahoo.com/>). Also, the following examples are known as information services based on location.                Location-related reminders which notify when a certain person reaches a certain location (for example, refer to Non-patent References 4 and 5)Non-Patent Reference 5        
A. Dey and G. Abowd, “CybreMinder: A Context-Aware System for Supporting Reminders,” In Proceedings of International Symposium on Hand held and Ubiquitous Computing (HUC 2000)                Guidance systems based on location (for example, refer to Non-patent References 6, 7, and 8)Non-Patent Reference 6        
G. W. Fitzmaurice, “Situated information spaces and spatially aware palmtop computers,” Communications of the ACM, Vol. 36, No. 7, pp. 38-49, 1993
Non-Patent Reference 7
T. Hollerer, et al., “Exploring MARS: developing indoor and outdoor user interfaces to a mobile augmented reality system,” In Computers and Graphics, Vol. 23, No. 6, Elsevier Publishers, pp. 779-785, 1999
Non-Patent Reference 8
S. Long, et al., “Rapid Prototyping of Mobile Context-Aware Applications: The Cyberguide Case Study,” Proc. 2nd Ann. Int'l Conf. Mobile Computing and Networking (Mobicom96), ACMPress, NewYork, pp. 97-107, 1996                Cooltown project (for example, refer to Non-patent References 9 and 10)Non-Patent Reference 9        
S. Pradhan, et al., “Websigns: Hyperlinking Physical Locations to the Web,” Computer, August, pp. 42-48, 2001
Non-Patent Reference 10
“cooltown,” <URL: http://www.cooltown.hp.com>                Services which utilize NVML (registered trademark) which provides information based on routes (for example, refer to Patent References 2 and 3)Patent Reference 2        
Japan Patent application Publication No. 2000-215211, “Guidance information presentation device, guidance information presentation processing means, etc.”
Patent Reference 3
Japan Patent application Publication No. 2001-306590, “Guidance information presentation device, guidance information presentation processing means, etc.”                Context Tool Kit, a middle-ware for constructing applications which acknowledge context and perform processing (context-aware computing) (for example, refer to Non-patent References 11 and 12)Non-Patent Reference 11        
“Context tool Kit,” <URL: http://www.cc.gatech.edu/fce/contexttoolkit>
Non-Patent Reference 12
A. Dey, G. Abowd, and D. Salber, “A Conceptual Framework and a Toolkit for Supporting the Rapid Prototyping of Context-Aware Applications,” Human Computer Interaction, 2001, Vol. 16, pp. 97-166, <URL: http://wwwl.ics.uci.edu/jpd/NonTradUI/SpecialIssue/anchor.pdf>
However, the systems mentioned above create and utilize data which enables output of information accommodating situations based on each system, and does not attempt to present various scattered information accommodating situations. Since information is created in various systems, to utilize only information created for a specific system limits the information which can be used.
(4) Means for Adding Additional Information to Information
Several methods for sending information to which headers and metadata have been attached can be seen in the internet world. The HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) header added when sending HTML and MIME headers attached to e-mails are some of the prototypes. In Semantic Web Activity, attempts are being made to attach metadata such as knowledge and ontology, logic, verification information, trust information, and signature to data such as HTML and XML (extensible Markup Language). Furthermore, there is a specification called Dublin Core <URL: http://dublincore.org/> which regulates basic metadata set, such as signature and creation date, which are added to documents.
Data which are added through these methods adhere to the contents of the information or communication protocols. Therefore, the type of additional information to be added based on the information itself or communication means and the like can be decided upon creation.
Conventional technologies (1) to (4), described above, have problems such as 1. to 5. below:
1. An incredible amount of knowledge and information is already being released over the Web. However, because this also includes much useless and out-dated information, it is difficult to find necessary information through keyword searches. Additionally, even when information is categorized, in many instances, the user does not know which category the desired information falls under, and finding necessary information is often difficult.
Furthermore, although a plethora of information exists, not only on the Web but also in corporate databases and personal local hard discs (e-mail and files), they are not being utilized effectively. Therefore, a method which effectively utilizes the vast amount of existing information is desired.
2. Situations where information becomes necessary are when a person wants to do something (sometimes, what this “something” is may not be clear), when some sort of trouble arises, and the like. In most cases, users must seek out information themselves. Even if information is obtained through news or push services, it may not necessarily have been needed at the time of reception, and therefore, must be sought out again when the need arises.
In addition, although users attempt to acquire information according to individual situations or actions they are planning on taking, they do not know how to search for the necessary information. Even when taking into consideration manuals and dictionaries such as encyclopedias, most are organized by entries, and it is difficult to find pertinent information based on situations (based on necessity).
Furthermore, because the creators of information do not add situations where the information will be required to the information itself, the information is not utilized by users when necessary and is inefficient. Therefore, a method which makes information acquisition easier is desired.
3. Presenting certain information or performing certain actions in certain situations is a common technology in existing robotic systems and information systems. These systems can be realized with relative ease if all that is required is creating customized data with rules and making presentation possible, in compliance to the system.
In this case, however, a rule system must be made for each system, and even if similar rules can be implemented in a plurality of systems, they must be made individually. Therefore, efficiency declines in both creation of the rule system and maintenance (rule update). In addition, the wealth of information produced by other people cannot be effectively utilized.
Moreover, the created rule base is normally customized for situations which are known to occur and, therefore, situation-matching and utilization are easy. However, processing such as that described below becomes necessary to utilize situated information which is generally made available.                gather information because it is scattered in various locations;        search for similar information because information may not necessarily match;        filter unnecessary information; and        perform appropriate processing when a plurality of information matches.        
Most of these problems do not occur when utilizing a database of a closed world. Therefore, a method which presents general situated information accommodating current situations is desired.
4. Weather information, road information, and the like are created individually by organizations studying weather or roads. Information such as these is often provided separately divided into sections managed by individual methods. At the same time, the individual user wants to acquire information pertinent to the current or future situation en masse. For example, it would be convenient if information related to a situation (event), such as a picnic outing over the weekend, could be extracted en masse.
Ordinarily, users want to know the route they plan to take or optional routes to get to the same destination as road information and the weather at the destination as weather information. It would be convenient if information customized for the user such as this could be extracted easily from the original information resource. Therefore, a method for finding the connecting point between convenience, from the viewpoint of information users, and ease, from the viewpoint of information creators, is desired.
5. Users, at times, have difficulty in finding even information which they had once viewed. If they do not know where they saw the information, users must search by means such as the following:                (a) search websites (perform a search using the same keyword(s) or look at the information if it is bookmarked)        (b) search e-mails (perform search by, for example, using Outlook (registered trademark) keyword search tool, or by sorting e-mails within folders in the order of names and dates)        (c) search local files (perform search using file search tools, or inside files using word find commands)        (d) search information in paper media (perform search relying solely on memory)        (e) determine if information was seen in somebody's presentation (perform search by making inquiries to people who come to mind)        
While it is difficult to find information efficiently by methods (d) and (e), one will be hard-pressed to do so even by methods (a) to (c), if appropriate keywords do not come to mind, because searches are based on keywords and dates. Therefore, a method for finding information which one has seen before easily is desired.